Official 2018 World Junior Championship Thread

[Magua]

Russians are like what since the last WJC......2/70 on the PP, including Super Series? They have the worst designed units ever, along with their unwillingness to actually assemble real units. All the lame point shots from outer space would make Hak drool.

Rubtsov has been disappointing.

We were warned he'd bust if he went to the CHL. We didn't listen.

 

[kudymen]

Flyers PP2 is the model for Russians...

 

[Magua]

He's been disappointing, but at least Rubtsov has been more noticeable on the puck in the 3rd and late in the 2nd. Making crafty plays, showing skill navigating the entries, but he's been too conservative or in the background, and his linemates and the entire team have looked disappointing too. Cycles just keep dying, defense can't move the puck. What can you do?

 

[FatTugboatFlahr]

He's been disappointing, but at least Rubtsov has been more noticeable on the puck in the 3rd and late in the 2nd. Making crafty plays, showing skill navigating the entries, but he's been too conservative or in the background, and his linemates and the entire team have looked disappointing too. Cycles just keep dying, defense can't move the puck. What can you do?

Sounds like a pretty fun team to watch.

 

[FLYguy3911]

Hogberg is the 7th D if that makes you guys feel any better.

 

[kudymen]

Sounds like a pretty fun team to watch.

My favorite kind of Russian team if you ask me

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Sounds like a pretty fun team to watch.

I’ve been basically counting down the clock for this one to end for most of it.

 

[Magua]

Keep pushing the pace, German.

Playing with Kayumov makes sense given their history.

 

[kudymen]

An apple for Rubtsov

 

[Magua]

Sounds like a pretty fun team to watch.

I just watched the Flyers play (dead) in this rink last week. This game has been a f***ing hoot in comparison.

 

[Angry Hockey Dad]

Nice play by Rubstov there. Apples!

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Russia with a very Flyers like game. Boring & uneventful as f*** for the vast majority of it then finally make a push way too late.

 

[kudymen]

f*** hahaha

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Another apple for Rubtsov.

 

[Magua]

Secondary assist now for Rubtsov. He's absolutely controlling play right now on the puck and looking like Russia's best player.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

The Russians wasted so much time there not getting the puck moving up ice.

 

[FatTugboatFlahr]

So do they pull a Hakstol and put German on the 4th line?

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

Thank god Rubtsov tried to pull the team out from the gutters today or else no one would have. Clutch work by German, but sadly not enough :/.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

So do they pull a Hakstol and put German on the 4th line?

He picked it up towards the end. They spent most of the game going through the motions it seems. Bragin doesn’t really seem to do a good job with deployments. Like Svechnikov is a 17-18 year old which isn’t a preferred thing for him but this is a kid that’s going to go top 2 this summer. It’s not your typical 17-18 year old so he should be playing up more given he’s one of the more talented players on the team age be damned.

 

[Magua]

Not even funny how much different his 3rd period shifts were, or even back to that late 2nd PP, where he got some real ice time. Bragin gets his teams to medal, but the guy can be such a hard headed, self-defeating dingus in the process. Rubtsov definitely showed what he's got inside him and earned a bigger role next game, 5v5 and PP. At least Bragin noticed, and his old running mate Kayumov added some comfortability.

That 3rd period is what he looked like in his draft year or for Chicoutimi and what makes him interesting. He just hasn't been showing it enough, this season, this game too. His biggest issue has always been his at times passive tendencies. It's not IQ; he just gets way too safe. He has the puck skills and ability. No one was doing anything this game everyone looked bad, so he decided to try to do something late.......and it worked. It's actually why I like him at wing......he can play looser and forecheck harder. I think his defense is a little overrated tbh, and he gets too hyper-focused on it. The more offensive he tilts and the less responsibility, the better.

 

[Magua]

He picked it up towards the end. They spent most of the game going through the motions it seems. Bragin doesn’t really seem to do a good job with deployments. Like Svechnikov is a 17-18 year old which isn’t a preferred thing for him but this is a kid that’s going to go top 2 this summer. It’s not your typical 17-18 year old so he should be playing up more given he’s one of the more talented players on the team age be damned.

Zadina is a 2018, although a '99. But he's not better than Svech. We saw the impact he had. There's no reason Svech can't play a big role except for Bragin being Bragin. It's actually saying something he made the team to begin with at 17 because of that bug up his ass about 18 year olds too. Like Sergachev is eligible, but he's already tearing up the NHL, while Bragin barely even attempted to play him last year.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Mad the NHL Network isn’t joining the Belarus/Sweden game in progress.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

I was mentioning Necas earlier because I did pick him up as an NA for fantasy and goddamn I think he's going to be good. His speed is scary as shit.

 

[Magua]

I was mentioning Necas earlier because I did pick him up as an NA for fantasy and goddamn I think he's going to be good. His speed is scary as ****.

I actually wish Zadina could skate nearly as well as Necas (or Chytil for that matter). Really the only thing he's missing.

I remember Button compared Necas to Giroux, and when you see him skate off the rush or compete down low, you can sort of see it, albeit taller. I watched a lot of him in Extraliga though, and his hockey sense always seemed more fine than stand-out to me. Don't really think that's changed to my viewing. I do wonder if he can actually be a center at the next level and if wing isn't better for him, but he's still really good. Guys like Tippett and Rasmussen should not have been taken before him.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

Necas, while tall, he doesn't have that much in the way of weight. But that hasn't stopped him in a men's league either. The kid is super fast and agile and has some sweet scoring hands. While Zadina can work on his skating, his hands and scoring ability are pretty damn high.